"I'm not sure about California," he said.A former jockey, Delguidice once was a top workout rider for the Florida-based Thomas. He also helped her select pinhooking prospects, and Thomas often praised his judgment. Their most successful collaboration financially involved a son of Sea of Secrets that they purchased for $30,000 at the 2002 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July select yearling sale. The following year, Thomas' Sequel Bloodstock sold the colt (later named Diamond Fury) for a then world record juvenile price of $2.7 million at the Barretts March select sale. At the time, Thomas owned the colt in partnership with Lewis and Brenda Lakin.Thomas could not be reached for comment.
Rudy Delguidice Jr., the right-hand man to successful yearling-to-juvenile pinhooker Becky Thomas, is going on his own. The two parted company following the Barretts March select juvenile auction, according to Delguidice, who was interviewed Monday at Keeneland."I'm going one direction and she's going another; she's still pinhooking, but she has a big breeding operation, too," he said. "We're still great friends. I've been doing my own thing on a small basis for a couple of years, buying horses from open sales, running them in Miami, and then selling them. I've got some friends who are interested in helping me and there is a guy I'm going to be talking to here in Kentucky. We'll see what happens."Delguidice, who worked for Thomas for 12 years, said he would like to have small consignments of five to six pinhooked horses for each of the major juvenile auctions in Kentucky and Florida.
